102 THE CHOLERA AT AGRA. [SEPT. I believe come on very well. It is to be expected that others will be drawn in by their example, and that we shall ultimately have more Indians about the Mission. Thomas is keeping a small school, and preparing an Indian with his family for baptism. I now conclude, with my hearty prayers that God may bless and prosper you in your work of faith and labour of love, and that you may bless, and be a blessing to, my country. THE MISSIONARIES IN INDIA. WHAT seek ye here, on these golden shores, Say, is it for such ye come? There are diamonds pure in Golconda's mine, Here ruby and emerald brightly shine, And gold lies on every hand. There are things more rich than silken woof, More pure and more bright than gems That ever hung from a kingly roof, Or sparkled in diadems There are erring souls! Tis these we prize, It is these we come to seek : We fain would open blind men's eyes, Comfort the contrite and meek. THE cholera is raging with great intensity at Agra and in its vicinity. Several Europeans have fallen a sacrifice to it, and the natives are suffering severely. The cases among them have risen to 100 daily, of which about one-third prove fatal. It is thought that the mortality is underrated by one-half. In the gaol the epidemic has proved so virulent, that the remaining prisoners, upwards of 3000 in number, have been formed in two encampments on the plain. It is at such time that true religion evidences its sustaining and comforting power. The Christian knows One who is able to help at such a time, and willing to hear prayer; and God, as He has made Himself known in Christ, is his refuge. Alas! how sad the condition of the poor heathen at such a time. We are informed that the Mahommedan temples are nightly thronged and surrounded with worshippers, crying aloud to the Almighty. The Hindús fall back on their own superstitions. There is a curious legend current amongst them. One night lately, about midnight, a horseman rode down to the opposite bank of the Jumna, and called to the ferryman to convey him over. It was too late it was not worth the fee to take across a single man with his horse. But being promised a large douceur, the ferryman agreed, 1856.] SAU QUALA. 103 and brought over horse and rider. The stranger mounted, and, asking the way to the next westward village, rode in that direction. As he approached it, he met one of its villagers, and desired him to show the path westward. He refused, and would not be bribed. In the morning this villager was dead of cholera, and his village was immediately ravaged by the disease. The people of Agra have long had the gospel among them, faithfully preached by the Missionaries, but they have paid but little attention to it. May this solemn judgment awaken them to recollection! We would earnestly desire the prayers of our readers on behalf of our Missionaries, that they may be preserved in the midst of this trying season, and that out of the evil much good may arise. SAU QUALA. SAU QUALA's early history, as related by Mr. Mason in the American "Missionary Magazine," is full of interest. As might be expected, his profession of Christianity exposed him to some trials from his countrymen. He had been betrothed to a young Karen girl, who, on his becoming a Christian, refused to complete her engagement. Subsequently he was married to a young person brought up in the Mission school. She is described as the flower of the jungle, a fair and handsome native woman; tall, of a commanding mien, with attractive features, and wearing her long tasselled shawl thrown about her person like a highlander, with an em.broidered turban wound round her head like a coronet. Nor was she less remarkable for her mental qualities and Christian attainments: she has been a pattern to Christian women in the jungles of what a preacher's and pastor's wife ought to be. name is Muphau-"Celestial Flower." Her And now commenced Sau Quala's work of itinerating and preaching amongst his countrymen. Early on a January morning, a little band of newly-converted Karens and Burmans might be seen hastening over the paddy-fields south of the city of Tavoy. It was a January morning, but not like one in our wintry climate. A morning early in the dry season within the tropics has no parallel in other climes; and the Burmese provinces, in fertility, beauty, and grandeur of scenery, and in the variety, value, and elegance of their natural productions, are equalled by few on earth. On the left of the path is seen a long chain of evergreen hills, "clothed with laurel-leaved gamboge trees, fragrant gum-kino trees, yellow-flowered cassias, and white jasmines, at the foot of which a buffalo is treading out the corn in the open field, or drawing large sleds, laden with sheaves for the threshing-floor." On the right, bordered by red and yellow blossoms of the hibiscus, a river winds. its course, the view in that direction terminating by a range of hills from 500 to 1500 feet high. Where were these native Christians 104 SAU QUALA. [SEPT. going? On a mission of love, to preach the gospel to villages lying southward, who had never heard of Christ. Would our readers like to know how Quala spoke to his people? He thus pleaded with an idolater Can the image save those that worship it? Think! How can it possibly save them? How many trees have sprung up, that the image created? How many clumps of bamboos are there, that the image has made? How many men has it formed? Where are the animals, or even insects, that it has brought into existence? It has done nothing. Nor is the image self-existent: it was made by man. Rather than worship the image, ought we not to worship the man who made it, for his superior power? But the maker was a thief. Do you doubt it? Consider! Earth, wood, stone, gold, silver, lead, and copper, exist because God created them. He who makes an image takes God's earth, God's wood, God's rocks, God's gold, God's silver, God's lead, God's copper. Does he ask for it? No! He takes it without leave, and says he will form an image and worship it; thus making himself a son of folly. Were we to disobey our parents and treat their commands with contempt, following our own will in every thing, would they not be angry? Now, He who is greater than father, greater than mother, the only true God, who cannot die, nor cease to exist, commands-"Make no image, worship no image: worship me." Against this God have we all sinned, in all our thoughts, in all our deeds. There is no part of us free from transgression. The hand has transgressed, the foot has transgressed, the eye has transgressed, the ear has transgressed, the mouth has transgressed, the mind has transgressed, the heart has transgressed. Our transgressions are greater than the hills, loftier than the mountains. It is not fitting we ascend to the presence of God. It is fitting we descend to the lowest depths of hell; and the great grace of God alone still keeps us here. These heavens so wide, this earth so great, every thing in the many waters and numerous lands, God created. He formed man holy, exempt from old age, sickness, and death; but he disobeyed God, obeying Satan; and thus brought misery on himself and all creation. Still God did not give us up. He had compassion upon us, and sent His only Son to save the slaves of Satan, who had no rest in his service. To deliver us from the hands of Satan, and to give us rest, He bought us with His own blood. He had no compassion on His own great life, but He had compassion on men who were going down to hell. He died on the cross for us, on account of our sins; and thus drew open the gate at the foot of the road, so that man is made again acquainted with God. Surely, the children of earth ought to worship God, ought to perform His work, ought to observe His word, ought to follow His path, ought to obey His will; but man makes himself obstinate, and his ears crooked. He worships not, he serves not, he obeys not His word, follows not His path, submits not to His will. But he thus fulfils the language of the elders, who said, " Children and grandchildren! Words good and white are scarcely received. Rottenness has many associates, sweetness few." Sometimes his countrymen would urge that which is very common 1856.] SAU QUALA. 105 amongst the heathen-that the religion which sufficed their ancestors would do for them. To this he would reply Some of you object-"The tortoise dying, dies in its shell. Mother dying, occupy mother's chamber; father dying, take father's hall. The tigress striped, the cubs striped. Let not the tree depart from its shadow. If mother has gone to hell, we will go after her; if father has gone to hell, we will go after him." Let those who speak thus, think of suffering on earth, not to speak of hell. If a tiger devoured mother, dare we go out and give ourselves to be devoured by tigers? If a crocodile killed her, or fire devoured her, or she was drowned, dare we go out and give ourselves to die by the crocodile, fire, or water? We can be very bold while the tiger is out of sight; but when we meet it face to face, we are panic-struck, and scatter, one one way, and two two ways. Our fathers and mothers did not hear what we hear, did not know what we know. It is of God's special grace that these things have come unto us. The elders of antiquity yearned to hear the word of God, but heard it not. That blessing was reserved for us. Still it is accord ing to the saying, "Lake pleasant, fish remain." In a large lake where there is nothing to devour the fish, and its waters never fail, the lake is pleasant. Yet if there be no fish in it, it does not call the fish to come unwillingly. If the fish wish to dwell in it, they remain; if not, they depart. God is the lake, and we are the fish. Unless we are in God, ere long something will come and devour us. The fire of hell will devour Then some would cavil; and cavillers are not peculiar to the Karens. At home, amongst ourselves, are to be found those who object precisely the same things which the untaught Karens were wont to do. Let us hear the Karen caviller God is possessed of infinite power, and has a perfect knowledge of all things. Why did He create Satan? Did He not know that He would come and deceive man? If He knew that he would come and destroy, why did He create him? If God compassionates man, if He loves him, why did He create the tree of temptation? Did He not know that, if man ate of it, he would die? And if He knew, why did He create it? Why has He made men so that some come forth from the womb blind, some hump-backed, some with dead limbs, some with twisted limbs, some with crooked limbs, some white, some black? And why are some born dead? Why do some die in infancy, some in childhood, some in youth, some in manhood, some in old age? Why are some insane, some idiots, some fools, some wise? Why are some masters and others slaves? Some rich and others poor? Could not God make them all alike? Or is it because He loved some, and did not love others? Such persons Sau Quala answered thus God is above man, above kings, above all. Kings are obeyed without asking for reasons. We ought not to reply against God. He is our father. The child understands not what the father does. The axe and the knife kill, yet without them the father could not obtain food for the child. He does not permit his child to handle them, but one with crooked ears, when unobserved by its father, takes hold of them and cuts itself. Parents give children many playthings; but, because they 106 MOSQUE OF OMAR AT JERUSALEM. [SEPT. love them, they do not allow them to play with the axe and the knife. God acts according to His own will. The house-owner builds a house, and decides in relation to all its parts. He disposes of the timbers or bamboos according to their proper positions. That which is too short he lengthens; that which is too long he shortens; that which will not answer his purpose he throws away. That which is shortened does not say to the builder, "Why hast thou shortened me?" nor that which is lengthened, "Why hast thou lengthened me?" The timbers or bamboos do not say, "Make us this way or that way: make us not that way, or this way." The materials know nothing, but the owner of the house knows, and directs every thing according to his own will. He is the owner of the house, and we ought to submit to his dispensations in silence. Then he will use us as parts of his building; that is, we shall become his children and servants. But if we murmur and complain, and abuse God, we become like the bamboos and timber which, being unsuitable for the building, were rejected by the builder and thrown away. Some of God's judicial arrangements are in order that we may praise Him, some that we may repent of our sins, some that we may discern between good and evil, some that we may not hope in transitory things on earth, some that we may avoid hell, and go to heaven. None are made for the disadvantage, but all for the advantage, of man. those who murmur, the holy book says-" Who art thou, O man, that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?" We are not to suppose that the Karens at once, and without objection, received the gospel when it was made known to them. The Karen settlements to the south of Tavoy presented great difficulty: the Missionaries and their assistants were rudely treated; nor would the people send a single child to the Mission schools. Some of the Karens had received Buddhism, and they have yielded the least fruit. But they who remained free from Burmese influence and superstition were less prejudiced, and among these the gospel of Christ has had indeed great success. That journey on the January morning extended more than two hundred miles, and for fifteen years Sau Quala has been the constant companion of the Missionary Mason in these labours of love, until every nook in the southern provinces, where Karens were to be found, has been visited. MOSQUE OF OMAR AT JERUSALEM. THE mosque itself stands on a raised platform, or terrace, some seven feet high, and nearly in the centre of the enclosed area; on reaching the steps that lead up to which we exchanged our out-of-door chaussure for slippers, and mounted. As we came within near view of the main building, the extreme beauty of the bright-coloured mosaics and arabesques that adorn the whole surface of the outer walls, and the not-less |